Your Right to Know

With 22 Republican signatures, a discharge petition aimed at forcing a House vote on a bill that
would eliminate Common Core in Ohio remains well short of the 50 needed to initiate action.

But more important than the number of signatures is who has signed it. One name in particular
stands out: Rep. Cliff Rosenberger of Clarksville, the front-runner to become the next speaker.

“It’s an issue that concerns a lot of folks around the state of Ohio, and it’s something we have
to give due attention to and get it addressed,” Rosenberger said of the education standards.

With House Speaker William G. Batchelder, R-Medina, leaving at the end of the year because of
term limits, Rosenberger says he has more than 60 percent of the caucus backing him for speaker,
thanks to a recent deal reached with one of his primary rivals.

Asked whether Common Core would be a key issue early next year, Rosenberger said, “We definitely
want to get it addressed” this year after the November election.

“I think we’ve got a long way to go in this General Assembly,” he said. “I have no doubt we’ll
probably have some kind of resolution.”

Ohio lawmakers already have taken some action regarding Common Core, the math and reading
standards developed by the National Governors Association and Council of Chief State School
Officers now in place in more than 40 states. The goal of Common Core is to improve college and
career readiness and critical thinking, while aligning standards among states.

Common Core opponents have raised arguments including that the new methods for teaching math are
confusing, that writing standards are inappropriate for many grades and that the standards reduce
critical-thinking development.

“That sucker is a problem,” Batchelder said of Common Core shortly after the primary
election.

Three states — Indiana, Oklahoma and South Carolina — have repealed Common Core and some other
states are in various stages of discussing walking away from the standards.

“We definitely need to seize more local control and get the issues back to the local level,”
Rosenberger said. “There are some other issues in the bigger picture I’d like to see worked on in
the future and continue to have that conversation as we go forward.”

Rep. Andrew Thompson, R-Marietta, sponsor of the bill to eliminate Common Core, said the
discharge petition has brought attention to the issue and he hopes to have more to say on changes
to the bill soon.

“Obviously, repeal is what I want to see, and repeal with some understanding of where we go
next,” he said.

The issue of what would replace Common Core is key for some members, including Rep. James Butler
Jr., R-Oakwood, Rosenberger’s chief rival for speaker, who said he opposes Common Core but did not
sign the discharge petition because it did not offer a better option.

“We shouldn’t go back to Ohio’s old standards, which are widely agreed to be lower than Common
Core,” he said. “We should repeal Common Core and implement standards that are the best in the
country.”

Rep. Gerald L. Stebelton, R-Lancaster, chairman of the House Education Committee, said he has
heard of no Common Core legislation that he thinks will pass this year.

“All the things we’ve tried to do still aren’t enough to satisfy some people,” he said. “We’re
not going to revert to a position of recommending a reversal of the Common Core. That’s the only
thing that is going to satisfy these folks.”

Teachers and administrators have praised Common Core, Stebelton said, arguing that it sets
clear, more stringent standards for what each student should know by the end of each grade level. “
It allows local districts flexibility as to how you teach it and what materials you use to teach
it.”

Associations representing Ohio school boards, superintendents and treasurers have supported
Common Core, although they say some districts lack the technological capacity to implement the new
testing the standards require.